Ars Technica has an article today on Microsoft's new License and Software Assurance model, dubbed Licensing 6.0, has not been met with open arms. As with most things relating to Microsoft licensing, the primary issue is cost. Now that Microsoft has formally recognized that the software subscription scheme wasn't "easy to understand," and in some cases costs companies more money, change is on the horizon. But what changes, and what ideology is driving this model?

Licensing 6.0 is geared towards term commitments (e.g., 3 years) for those with considerable software expenditures (250+ desktops, for example). It's not for standard home users, or even for small business (yet!). The program is more or less a "replacement" for Microsoft's older volume-licensing agreements, a replacement that is attempting to fuse software subscription ideologies with mass licensing. Yep, this is step one in moving to a software-subscription model.